Black Phantom
by YumeNoAnata
Summary: AU Naru moonlights as a Phantom Thief, by day he is the head of the task force to capture the aforementioned thief and the balance has been maintained for a year. Then Mai Taniyama, a new officer, joins that task force, upsetting the balance. NaruXMai
1. Introductions

**Black Phantom: **

**Summary:**Naru moonlights as a Phantom Thief, by day he is the head of the task force to capture the aforementioned thief and the balance has been maintained for a year. Then Mai Taniyama, a new officer, joins that task force, upsetting the balance.

* * *

_He glanced at a photo of someone with the same face as him before turning it over and sighing deeply._

_"It's all for you, Gene..." he murmured quietly before leaving, cloaked by the moonlight._

* * *

The officer known as Kazuya Shibuya turned a page of the book he was reading and fought back a yawn as he had only obtained an hour of sleep the night before. Having multiple identities was exhausting to say the least.

His subordinate entered the office carrying a newspaper which he placed on Kazuya's desk.

Kazuya picked up the newspaper and stared at the photo taking up a majority of the front page which was of a man dress entirely in black with a black cape and a matching mask and hat. He frowned upon observing the angle that the photo was taken from.

"That is my unflattering side," he complained as he opened the newspaper to read the accompanying article.

The other man stayed silent, accustomed to his superiors narcissistic ways.

"_The elusive Phantom Thief, Kuro Kaitou strikes again, leaving Inspector Shibuya in a tizzy. An hour after the thief escaped, the Inspector was found locked in a closet..." _he read aloud.

"I'm surprised that you have not be reprimanded for letting Kuro Kaitou escape for the 12th time in a row."

"Lin, no one has noticed any correlation between myself and Kuro Kaitou and considering forensics cannot even tell deduce how I gain entry without leaving behind any evidence, no one is likely to," the Inspector said unconcernedly. "I sometimes wonder about the abilities of the Japanese Police force. I cannot believe that they took an hour to find me last night, considering I suggested innocuously that if anyone went missing to check the closets."

Lin wondered how to phrase what he was going to say next, but it would hopefully bring his superior, or rather his charge, back down to earth and make him actually worry about getting caught.

"The chief of our division has been concerned about our lack of progress and we have a new officer assigned to our task force," he informed the narcissist.

The reaction was instant. "What!?" Kazuya barked. "I was not informed of this."

He closed the newspaper and opened his work email account to find that he had an email from the chief of his division concerning his abysmal progress in capturing Kuro Kaitou and a new officer would be arriving to join the task force. He scrolled down to see the name and photo of the new officer.

The photo was of a young woman who looked close to his age with short brown hair, caramel eyes and a wide smile.

"Mai Taniyama," he read out her name. "I have heard that name before."

"I believe I overheard a group of females by the vending machine, talking about her. Apparently she is a kind but unbelievingly stupid person," Lin supplied to the conversation.

Kazuya shrugged. "I don't think we will have to worry about her being a liability then. I remember now, I think she is related to that idiot officer down the hallway. The one with a ponytail."

"Noll, we will have to be careful. The chief may be suspicious and she could be a spy. Please consider her as a potential threat and stop bringing all of your supernatural books to the office, it is an giveaway."

The narcissist's reply was to drop the book he had been reading into one of his desk drawer and to whisk a notebook into his briefcase.

"Don't call me Noll. That is even more of a giveaway considering that my name is supposed to be Kazuya Shibuya."

Lin's upright posture relaxed slightly. His charge was paying attention.

* * *

Whilst this was going on, Mai Taniyama walked down the hallway apprehensively. It was her first day at the detective section of the Police force, she had spent a year as a traffic warden, so it was an abrupt change of pace. She had been promoted as she had somehow managed to tail an escaping serial killer despite the fact that she hadn't known what he looked like.

Her self declared uncle and aunt, Houshou and Ayako had assured her that if the Chinese beanpole and the pale faced weakling ever gave her any trouble she could come to them as their office was a few doors down.

She had yet to know what her new boss looked like, but gossip had informed her that he was good looking. Even Bou-san was unable to deny it after Ayako brought the subject up.

This brought her back to her dilemma. The superintendant had told her very plainly to "kick that pasty pansy up the backside" and to report back anything suspicious. Other than that, she could do what she wanted and not worry about getting demoted.

As preparation she had been given information about Kazuya Shibuya which was minimal as the Chief of Police had handled his transfer into Tokyo Metropolitan Police and was remaining tight lipped. Apparently he had a good record where he had worked before, making his record of 12 failures to catch Kuro Kaitou a contrast.

A shining brass nameplate engraved "Kuro Kaitou Taskforce- Inspector Kazuya Shibuya" came into view and Mai knew that she had arrived. All she needed was a gulp of air to steel herself and she was ready to kick the "pasty pansy". She knocked on the door.

"Come in," a muffled voice could be heard.

Mai opened the door to find a dark haired man, about her age with piercing blue eyes, sitting at his desk. His skin was arctically pale so she understood the nickname instantly. Standing next to him was an older taller dark haired man with long hair. The Chinese beanpole, she deduced.

"The lights cut at 8:00pm exactly and the power did not return, therefore a wire was cut, or more likely an explosive was placed with the fuses so power could not be restored easily. Tell forensics and get them to run a GC-MS on the explosives used so we can track down the supplier, then the client," Inspector Shibuya said to the beanpole before looking up at her. "Mai Taniyama-san?"

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Inspector Shibuya," she bowed.

To her surprise he made no such motion in return and just turned to other man again. From that she deduced that he either had no knowledge of Japanese customs, or he was just a rude jerk.

Sensing that he was not going to say anything else to her, she sat down at an unoccupied desk and pulled the morning newspaper out of her handbag. Last night's heist had taken place at a mansion in a residential area of Tokyo frequented by the wealthy. The warning note had been sent three days before. Unlike the Phantom thieves of fiction and manga, the Kuro Kaitou was not after jewels or valuable items and nothing was ever stolen. The warning notes just stated his time of arrival and the address, nothing else.

A rustling sound punctured her reverie and she turned her head to see Kazuya Shibuya and Koujo Lin putting their coats on.

"Officer Taniyama, we are going down to the heist site to check forensics' progress and to check for correlation with other heist sites. You will have to come as you are not contributing anything by staying here," the Inspector informed her as he swept past her disdainfully.

Mai pulled on her coat and bounded after him. As they walked down the hallway Mai ran on ahead and stuck her head into her unofficial uncle's office.

"Bou-san, I'm going out now. Stop drooling at the sight of Oliver Davis' name and get some work done."

Mai's focus was on her uncle and she had her back to her new superiors so she didn't notice how they stiffened at the sound of Oliver Davis' name.

After a tart rejoinder she withdrew her head and turned back.

"Wasn't that Officer Takigawa? Why do you call him Bou-san?" Kazuya enquired as he had never seen anyone so unlike a monk before. That could be explained by the ponytail.

"He is a part time monk and does exorcisms for people," she answered casually as they walked along.

"I didn't know monks could have ponytails," he commented amusedly. "Are his exorcisms successful?"

Mai nodded. "I've seen him in action. His girlfriend is a priestess too and the both have taught me a few tricks so I know how to deal with any spirits that I might encounter. He is also a total fanboy of this English scientist called Dr. Oliver Davis," she spun around to face them. "Have you heard of him?"

Kazuya and Lin exchanged worried glances. The girl had only arrived ten minutes ago and had already come closer to the truth than anyone had so far. To make matter worse she knew a monk and priestess and knew some supernatural phenomena. If she was at any heists, there was a chance that she might recognise them for what they really were and bust the pair of them before they made any progress with what they really came to Japan for.

"I cannot say that I have," Kazuya lied after a moment of tense glances between himself and Lin. "He must be one of these people that are only famous in certain circles."

"That's true," Mai acknowledged as they walked out of the building. "Ayako says that if she ever meets Oliver Davis in person she will castrate him for taking up so much of her boyfriend's time."

"Isn't that Officer Matsuzaki?" Kazuya recalled her as being a mouthy redhead with sharp manicured nails and he paled at the thought.

"That's right."

Lin pulled out the car keys and unlocked the car, allowing himself a small smile at his charge's expense. Providing that Mai Taniyama did not uncover the truth she could be a source of amusement considering the reactions she had gotten out of Noll in the short time that she had been there. However she was also a liability.

Mai garnered her first of many smirks from her superior officer by accidently stepping on an area that was being examined by forensics. The next smirk had been in reaction to her accidently elbowing an expensive Ming vase off its stand. Very fortunately for her Officer Lin had caught it for her. His smirk had widened a notch when she had been informed that the vase was worth eight million yen which was more that she would ever earn in her lifetime.

She stepped away from the Ming vase and onto the slipper clad foot of her superior officer. She glanced up to see him glaring down at her with amused eyes.

"Officer Taniyama, I will send you back to headquarters if you cannot contain yourself," the Inspector told her haughtily. "As a Police officer it is not expected that you obstruct others' work and break valuable antiques. Lin, take Taniyama-san to the next room where forensics have finished and explain what happened last night."

The Chinese beanpole nodded and headed out of the room into a bigger room with floor to ceiling windows, looking out onto Tokyo Bay. This target had been an opulent house owned by someone with expensive taste in furniture and ornaments which was a contrast to the previous target which had been an expensive, but sparsely furnished penthouse apartment.

A report was passed to her and Lin began to talk her through the heist.

"Kuro Kaitou somehow landed on the balcony," he pointed. "There is a partial footprint there."

Mai stared at the unbroken wall of windows. "Please don't tell me that the newspaper reports are right and he came in through here without smashing any windows."

"Much to any detective's displeasure, he came in this way. There was an officer posted outside this room and a camera inside. The window here opens," he gestured to the latch. "It was checked right before the heist began and the camera was functioning properly and was not connected the mains' power supply. What do you think happened?" Lin asked, interested to see how quick off the mark she was as this level of detail had not made it into any news reports.

"I assume that the power cut at 8pm- the time stated for the heist and he somehow opened the window latch from outside, but the camera stopped working before he did that."

Lin paused before answering. The girl may be clumsy, but she was quite sharp.

"Correct. How did he unlock it?"

This threw her. "I don't know. Maybe he gained entry beforehand and tied fishing wire around the latch and closed the window on it after guiding the other end outside. Then at the heist he just pulled on it."

A voice behind her disputed her theory. "That's wrong. The window latches were all checked for mechanisms like that and it would not work like it does in fiction. Latches are too solid to be moved like that. Try again."

She turned to see Inspector Shibuya standing in the doorway, looking amused at her expense which raised her hackles.

"How am I supposed to know? Maybe it was PK?" she griped sarcastically.

Kazuya's eyes widened and he flinched. This girl was going to be trouble.

* * *

**Author's Note:** **Kuro Kaitou translates as Black Phantom thief. The influences for this story are Arsene Lupin and other stories also influenced by the French Phantom thief. **


	2. Dark Kiss

**Black Phantom**

**Chapter 2:**

The brunette noticed Kazuya's surprised expression and laughed nervously.

"I suppose it was a ridiculous suggestion. It's all Bou-san's fault- he is always going on about Oliver Davis' PK. PK stands for Psychokinesis."

"I know what PK means," Kazuya said with a tight jaw.

Lin stepped in before anything else could go pear shaped. "Officer Taniyama, please refrain from making statements like that when you write reports. Forensics should be finished in the next room."

He led Mai out of the room, leaving Kazuya in a daze. He would not leave those two together again, it was too dangerous. Despite her carefree attitude Taniyama was sharp and Noll, despite his calm exterior, did let some of his emotions show which could lead to their undoing.

The room he led her into was the study which was unrecognisable as papers were strewn everywhere, books were littering the floor and all the drawers of the desk had been pulled out and were upturned. It was clear that Kuro Kaitou had made a frantic, but thorough search.

"Did he really only have three minutes before officers caught up with him?" Mai asked disbelieving, gazing at the mess.

"Yes. Unfortunately the camera in this room had also been disabled," Lin answered as he flipped through a list of forensic evidence that a scene of crime officer had just handed him which was minimal. He allowed himself a ghost of a smile. Noll really could get a job done when he put the effort in and had motivation. "Forensics don't seem to have anything conclusive as usual. No hairs or fingerprints. Just fibres from his gloves which is not very helpful."

"Why do the Police go to all this trouble for a thief who hasn't yet stolen?" Mai enquired as she glanced at the books strewn over the floor and recognised one of them as being one about exorcisms that Bou-san had.

"I take it that you looked up all of his past heists when you found that you had been assigned to the task force," the beanpole began.

She nodded. "Of course."

"You may have noticed that all of the targets are houses owned by moderately well off people which puts pressure on the Police along with the fact that he keeps making a fool out of us and we still have not yet worked out how he gains entry. It is important for the Police to arrest him before we lose the trust of the public."

"I understand. Has there been any actual progress?"

Lin shook his head with a blank expression on his face.

"Do you want him to be caught?"

As fast as his reactions were, her sharp eyes caught the flicker of fear in his eyes and his indrawn breath.

"It would help my career and lower my blood pressure if he was caught," he said evenly, having recovered from the shock of the question. If Mai Taniyama continued on like this, making statements that came to close to the truth and asking hard hitting questions like that, he would have to take steps against her.

"Lin."

He turned to see his charge standing behind him, glancing at the mess in the study with an amused eye, as if it was funny to see his handiwork done under the cover of darkness being subject to a forensic examination in bright light.

"Are we leaving?"

Kazuya nodded. "Forensics will send us a report tomorrow, but minus technical babble there is nothing of use."

On her way out Mai tripped up on the threshold of one of the doorways and fell into Lin, knocking Lin into a bookshelf which fortunately did not fall over and crush his leg. A couple of books fell out and after apologising profusely Mai bent down and picked them up. Both were familiar books as she had seen them in her unofficial aunt's apartment. The owner of the house was obviously a fan of the supernatural, she decided.

"Hurry up, Officer Taniyama," her superior officer called out, unimpressed with her antics.

She slotted the books back into place and ran after him before he could drive away without her.

* * *

Silence reigned in the office of the Kuro Kaitou task force. Mai glanced around her disbelievingly. The Chinese beanpole was typing on his laptop at an impressive speed and had headphones on. Kazuya Shibuya was sitting at his desk frowning over something.

The brunette glanced over witness statements from the heist the night before. The officers' description of finding Inspector Shibuya hogtied in a closet was the most amusing thing she had read in a while. Apparently before the heist had started the erstwhile Inspector had suggested that if any officers went missing to check in all the closets in the house, but it had taken an hour for anyone to find him.

The feeling that she was being glared at pervaded her senses and she glanced up to see her superior officer glaring at her.

"Make me some tea," he ordered before looking down again.

"Won't canned coffee suffice, Shibuya-sama?"

"No. Fresh tea helps my good looks flourish. Canned coffee would be detrimental to my appearance. Go search for a kettle," he demanded and glared at her until she unwillingly left the office, slamming the door behind her.

Lin stood up and walked over to the Inspector's desk. Noll's request for tea had been a rather obvious attempt to remove the third party who was not privy to the secret.

"Have you picked the next target?" he asked simply, recognising the list of names that Noll had out on his desk.

"Yes. The heist will be next week, I cannot have too many sleepless nights. The next location will be promising considering the size, it might even be the one that we have been looking for," Kazuya mused thoughtfully.

That was wonderful news for Lin considering the past 12 fruitless heists, but he had some concerns.

"We will have to watch out for Taniyama, she is surprisingly sharp and may be our undoing. She hit on the truth today although she does not know it."

Naru tapped his chin. "I acknowledge that she may be a liability, but she still has to follow orders from me, her superior officer. In any case, I can just knock her out. I must remember to carry a tranquilliser."

"We will see..."

Ten minutes later the discussed officer bounded into the office triumphantly holding a steaming teacup which she handed to the Inspector who unconsciously relaxed as he inhaled the tantalising fumes of Darjeeling. A cautious sip revealed that it tasted as good as it smelled which was unusual for red tea made by a Japanese person.

"I hope you are happy. I went to the kitchenette used by the secretaries of all the Chief Inspectors and the Superintendant who weren't too pleased with me. Once I mentioned it was for Kazuya Shibuya they were very forthcoming and waxed lyrical about your good looks," Mai griped.

Kazuya raised an eyebrow delicately. "Oh, do you think I'm handsome?"

Maybe dazzling Taniyama with his good looks would help put her off the scent. Much to his disappointment she didn't even blink or blush, instead she simply narrowed her eyes.

"Well, aren't you? All the females in the building talk about you."

The Inspector took a sip of tea before replying. "They have good taste."

This elicited a reaction from Mai who have him a funny look.

"Yes?"

"You're such a narcissist, Narucisstic Naru-chan!" she pointed at him dramatically not expecting him to flinch like he did.

"Did you just call me without honorifics?"

Mai withdrew her pointed finger and frowned puzzledly. "No. Do other people call you that too?"

The newly christened Naru glanced over at Lin who was glaring ferociously at him for making another slip.

"It does not matter. Are there any questions that you have regarding working with Lin and myself?" he asked to redirect the conversation and appease Lin.

"...How many times a day are you going to want tea?"

"Four at a minimum."

"So I am going to have to hear about how handsome you are four times a day at minimum" Mai swooned theatrically into her chair.

Naru smirked. "Welcome to the Kuro Kaitou task force, Mai."

* * *

One week later:

_He raised his hand, covered by the blanket of darkness, ready for action. The crimes that he committed, if taking nothing could be considered a crime, were never for himself. They were for the person that he was always thinking of, until a week ago when someone else came on the scene._

_His sharp ears picked up the sounds of running footsteps which sounded too light and dainty to be one of those bumbling male Police officers. Nevertheless they were approaching fast. All the officers were at the other side of the mansion on a different floor, misled by his partner in crime and an illusion that he had created so he could guess who was coming._

_Only one person would ignore all the signs and use animal instincts to find him._

_The door burst open and he was dazzled temporarily by a bright beam of light. He placed one hand over his eyes and waited for her to approach. _

_The sound of her light footsteps walking towards him and the metallic clink of handcuffs made him drop his arm and flash her a saccharine smile. He was confident that she would not recognise him as the room was dark and his face was shadowed by his hat and mask._

_"Good evening, Officer Taniyama is it not?"_

_"Stop with the games, I'm here to arrest you," was her quick reply._

_"You have no grounds to arrest me, I have never stolen a thing."_

_Much to his disappointment she didn't even blink._

_"If you are going to get technical, I'm going to hold you down and call for back up. Then we will see what to do with you." _

_Before his brain had even processed what she had said, his body was already moving. He stepped forward and reached out to grab her chin._

_"You can't scream for help when your mouth is covered," he murmured and proceeded to kiss her._

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who liked the first chapter. I wasn't sure if the idea would work. :D**


	3. Torture and Tea

**Black Phantom**

**Chapter 3:**

3 hours earlier:

Kuro Kaitou's latest heist was taking place in yet another western style mansion, this one more cavernous than the previous. Mai found that the library alone was larger than the size of her apartment and a sizeable section that was about the size of her kitchen, was devoted to the supernatural.

"Are all the cameras set up?" her narcissistic superior called out to her.

She nodded. "As per your instructions, Naru-sama."

An hour earlier he had handed her a map, marking out where he wanted all the cameras to be positioned. The plan even detailed which camera had to be placed in which room so she couldn't just pick up any old camera from the pile and set it up in one of the living rooms. She hadn't really questioned why, she had simply assumed that Kazuya Shibuya was a neat freak in addition to being a control freak and a narcissist. What Mai didn't guess was that several cameras contained incendiary devices and they were set to go off when the heist started, as they were likely to capture Kuro Kaitou's face due to the fact that they were in the path of his entry and exit route.

"Is there anything else that you want me to do?" she enquired.

The reply was simple. "Mai, tea."

"But we're in someone else's house and you are a Police officer- you should know better," she protested.

Naru sighed. "All you are going to use is the water. Lin has the kettle and the teabags. Off you go."

He resolved to use a light tranquilliser on her tonight. Some tranquillisers left you feeling like you had a hangover the next morning and he couldn't have her missing work and not making him tea. Over the past seven days he had developed a minor addiction to say the least. The look on Mai's face when she realised that she was going to have to hear about how handsome he was for the nth time was also a bonus.

The next few hours whittled by and were mainly filled with tea making and the occasional disagreement between Mai and Naru until it was fifteen minutes before the time stated in Kuro Kaitou's warning letter.

"Is everyone clear on their positions? We have extra officers at likely entrance points, but someone should be in every part of the building," Naru said as he consulted the floor plan. His placing of Mai, Lin and himself was deliberate to minimise trouble.

Five minutes before the heist start time all the officers were waiting in position. Mai was on floor above Naru who was just around the corner from Lin. However there was an unpatrolled hallway opposite him which he would be using as a route whereas Lin and the other officers would be running in a different direction once eight o'clock arrived.

"5,4,3,2,1," he muttered to himself as he glanced down at his watch.

At zero the lights faded due to something that had been installed in the fuse box. Simultaneously he heard shouting from officers posted on the west side of the building. Then he heard Lin ordering everyone to run to that side the of building and he darted into the hallway and squashed his body against the wall. Several officers ran past his hiding place in the darkness and he counted the number to verify that everyone had left the east side of the building.

Once the final officer had passed him he pulled on his Kuro Kaitou costume that had been concealed in a giant Ming vase. He wondered if Mai would enjoy the projections that he had created to mislead the task force.

Mai followed the stream of officers down the stairs to the ground floor where the shouting was coming from. When she reached the right area, she saw by the faint illumination of the crescent moon, a black outline running along the length of the dining room with the Chinese beanpole leading the chase.

She frowned, she didn't want to get caught up in that, but she didn't want to do nothing on her first heist. A weak light coming from a chair at the table caught her eye as all of the remaining officers joined the chase. Mai hitched up the cotton tablecloth to find a projector on the seat.

"It's a trick..." she gasped. Presumably there were other projectors in the house to maintain the illusion of an escaping Kuro Kaitou.

The brunette tapped her chin. She was now on the west side of the house and judging by all of the shouting and clattering of running feet everyone was above her. So everyone was on a different floor, but on the same side of the house, meaning...

"He is on the west side, on this floor."

This caused her to run out of the room trying to remember where the study was. At previous heists the only rooms that had been touched where study rooms. Mai pulled out a torch from her pocket so she could see where she was going. She pushed open the door that she thought was the study and the beam of light from her torch shone on a figure dressed in black who threw up his arms to shield his eyes from the light.

He dropped his arm as she approached and smiled sweetly at her.

"Good evening, Officer Taniyama is it not?"

Anyone else would have questioned why a notorious thief knew their name, but Mai bypassed it, assuming correctly that he was trying to distract her.

"Stop with the games, I'm here to arrest you."

"You have no ground to arrest me, I have never stolen a thing."

If he thought that was going to stop her, he was wrong.

"If you are going to get technical, I'm going to hold you down and call for backup. Then we will see what to do with you."

Her eyes widened when he reached out to grab her chin and she felt the coolness of his gloved hands against her skin.

"You can't scream for help when your mouth is covered."

Her brain seemed to shut down as he pressed his lips to her gently. One part of her brain idly noticed that it seemed to taste like Earl Grey tea which she had been forced to make for her superior earlier in the evening. When his tongue began to probe her mouth, she started to see black spots on her vision and she lost her grip on consciousness.

The Phantom Thief himself got a shock when Mai suddenly slipped from his lips and sagged to the floor. He caught her just in time and realised that she had fainted.

"At least I don't have to use tranquilliser," he muttered to himself before gently placing her on the floor. "And why did I do that?"

He glanced at his watch and knew that time was ticking. The projections and Lin could only distract the other members of the task force for so long. Naru handcuffed the brunette and blindfolded her for safety and carried her outside the study before she could wake up and interfere further with his plan. She had proven that she was not to be underestimated.

Once he had taken care of her he returned to the study and with a flick of his hand he sent all the books and folders off the bookshelves. He picked up a plain black leather folder and flipped through it, skim reading each page. Then he frowned and pulled out all the desk drawers with another hand movement.

Naru stepped into the middle of the mess and noticed that a notebook had been affixed using masking tape to the bottom of one of the drawers. He frowned sceptically, finding concealed notebooks was rarely something to celebrate; they were normally records of bribes, money laundering or betting, something that he had found out at a number of previous heists. He opened it to find the symbol of a cherry blossom printed on the first page.

Kuro Kaitou smiled the pocketed it. The sound of shouting became apparent, informing him that his time was up. He threw up the sash of the window in the study and climbed out. Underneath the window was paving stones so he did not have to worry about leaving behind any footprints that would trace his path. He rushed around the corner of the house until he came to the kitchen window and re entered the house through the window, unlocking and locking it with his PK. As this had been planned beforehand, the camera in this room was defunct and unable to record him changing clothes and removing his mask and hat. Now all he had to do now was rejoin the other officers which would not be too hard as the electricity had not yet been restored and everyone was stumbling around in the dark.

"Did Officer Taniyama get in the way then?" Lin questioned as soon as they arrived back at their shared apartment. "I thought she might have when I noticed that she was not in the group that I was leading around the house.

"She did, but I took care of it," Naru replied simply, neglecting to mention that the means had involved a kiss and tongue... Why had he done that? He stared out the window at the night sky pensively.

"It was kind of you to leave the handcuff key on the windowsill. Taniyama-san might have murdered you in the future if we were unable to get the handcuffs off her until we got back to headquarters," Lin said, noticing how distant his charge was.

"Hmm..." was the vague reply he received.

Lin hung up his coat and picked Naru's off the sofa. "Did you get anything?"

The narcissist twitched. That was right, he had found something, so why was he thinking about Mai? He pulled out the notebook from his inside jacket pocket and flipped through it to find a list of names written in English. He passed it to Lin.

"It's fortunate that the names are in English, you don't have to read any Kanji," the beanpole observed. "The person hiding this must have assumed that a Japanese person finding it would have trouble with reading the names in English."

His charge made no reply and looked deep in thought. Eventually he spoke:

"I know that we have had twelve fruitless heists, but... it was too easy to find that." He grabbed the notebook off Lin. "All the names are neatly written out and the notebook was amateurly hidden."

Lin made a face. "Then the notebook is a trap? When we go to the next heist there will be members of the clan out for us."

"We cannot be sure of anything. However if we get one step closer to Them, we will be one step closer to Gene."

* * *

_Across the city a woman tossed and turned in her bed, pondering the night's events. The dreams that took hold of her in her brief snatches of sleep were centred around one, or rather two men in black, on opposite sides of the law. _

_One was a Police officer. The other a thief._

_Both wore black, one talked flirtingly, the other disdainfully with a touch of amusement at her expense. Despite this, they melded into one in her dreams._


	4. Sakurazukamori

**Notes: Sakura translates as cherry blossom.**

**Bold text denotes English speech.**

* * *

**Black Phantom**

**Chapter 4:**

As soon as the order of "Mai, tea" left Naru's mouth, the female officer was up and running before he could make any snide comments about her speed. She had suggested getting a kettle for the task force office, but the narcissistic Inspector had vetoed that immediately, claiming that she needed the exercise.

The moment Mai had left the room Lin paused typing and walked over to Naru's desk. The signal for a private conversation had become Naru ordering Mai to make tea.

"You have found something?"

"Yes. Using the Police database I looked up one of the names of the high ranking members and the only likely address belonging to someone of that name is this one," he pointed to a line of text on his computer screen. "It does not appear on any satellite images leading me to suspect that it is the one."

Lin frowned, he preferred to have more concrete evidence before he aided and abetted Kuro Kaitou. Naru caught his glance.

"After I have sent the warning note to the Police, we, as the Kuro Kaitou task force will have to survey the house, then we will know how we are going to plan the heist. However, when we as the Police make a preliminary visit, you will have to go in my place as we cannot afford to lose everything by someone recognising me as Eugene Davis' brother."

The Chinese man sighed deeply. Life certainly never dull when you worked for Oliver Davis, but it could get dangerous.

The door was kicked open by Mai who was carrying two teacups. She passed one to Naru without even glancing at him and handed the other to Lin.

"I thought I would make you some, Lin-san as you must get stressed working for the narcissist."

Lin gave her a small smile, her warmth beginning to melt his cold personality. It was undeniable that she was a bright person to be around.

"Thank you, Taniyama-san."

"Did you hear that, Naru? Even Lin-san says "thank you"."

Her taunt did not receive reply from Naru who was busy inhaling the fumes of tea as he drank it. Maybe, when everything was over, he would hire Mai to be his personal tea maker... He shook his head. He should be thinking of his brother and not the girl that he had kissed... why did he do that?

He glanced over Mai's witness statement from the night before with slight amusement. The brunette had neglected to mention the kiss, claiming that she had been intent on arresting Kuro Kaitou when he had incapacitated her by "unknown means". He smirked.

His attention was brought back to the present by the sound of the office door opening. Naru looked up to see Mai about to leave.

"Mai, where are you going?"

"To see Bou-san and Ayako, unless you actually have something for me to do," she answered.

He opened his mouth to say yes, then he realised that he didn't have anything to keep her in the office with him.

"Fine. You can go, but you have to be back within an hour."

"Of course," Mai answered and left the room.

Lin raised his eyebrows. As unlikely as it seemed, Noll was growing fond of Mai Taniyama, possibly for the tea that she made. Or rather, he hoped it was the tea, anything further was not wise. If Noll showed any signs of being fond of her for more than her tea, he would have to take steps against her.

A shrill ring permeated Lin's internal monologue. Both men recognised the ring tone. It was for one of Naru's mobile phones, the Oliver Davis one. Naru dug around in his briefcase.

"It's Dad," he said before looking up at the clock to calculate the time difference between Japan and England. "He is up very early."

"It's about two in the morning in England- he probably never went to bed," Lin pointed out as his charge took the call.

"**Good morning Dad**," Naru greeted. "**Why are you calling now? You know it's not safe to talk to me until I am off work."**

"**I know, I'm sorry Noll. I just got excited. The item that you asked for has been made to your specifications and I'm shipping it out to you along with a spare for emergencies. I have also included a box of smoke bombs and other surprises for you to use,"** his father informed him enthusiastically.

"**Thank you Dad. I suspect that we may be closer to Them so any help is appreciated**."

"**Let me know if anything happens and be careful**. **Your mother sends her love."**

"**I will be careful and I have Lin with me**," Naru answered before hanging up.

"Is _that _item ready?" Lin enquired interestedly. "I wonder if it will work like it does in fiction."

"It is ready and I have made some additions to the basic design so if it does not work we can still use it in another way. Dad is also sending me some smoke bombs."

"Now we are delving further into the depths of Kaitou manga," the older man commented wryly.

"If it works, it works. Our current position was the result of strenuous planning and was evaluated as being the safest effective route of investigation. I do not particularly want to be fed to a cherry blossom tree which was what would have if we had gone with Mum or Dad's suggestion."

"There is no saying that it will not eventually happen Noll. You must give me some credit- it was thanks to me that we even know about the Sakurazukamori," Lin reminded him.

* * *

The atmosphere in an office down the hallway was a complete contrast. Mai and her unofficial aunt were giggling over a gossip magazine whilst her "uncle" was perusing the latest edition of a supernatural magazine. All were drinking coffee from the vending machine instead of hand poured Earl Grey like a certain narcissist.

Bou-san turned a page idly and frowned as he read an article.

"I'm never getting this magazine again. They have so many articles on shadowy organisations but never the Sakurazukamori- any reporter worth their salt would investigate them."

As Mai was in a happy mood she decided to humour him instead of rolling her eyes like she normally did.

"What is the Sakurazukamori?"

The monk straightened his posture and steepled his fingers. "Not much is known. They are a centuries old clan of Omnouji who act as assassins and according to rumour they feed their victims to cherry blossom trees. Apparently cherry blossom leaves are really white, but they suck the blood of the victim killed by the Sakurazukamori who is placed beneath the tree, turning the petals pink."

Mai shivered at the mental image of something beautiful like cherry blossoms being evil and Ayako threatened to hit her boyfriend for scaring her adorable niece.

"What's an Omnouji?" she questioned once Ayako's tirade was over.

Bou-san sighed dramatically. "Jou-chan has a monk and a priestess as her uncle and aunt and she doesn't even know what an Omnouji is."

"Just answer her question, you old man!" Ayako ordered him.

"Essentially it is a yin and yang master. Some have Shikigami in their possession which are creatures that are theirs to order."

"Have you ever met one?" his niece asked.

Ayako let out a guffaw. "Nope!" she answered for him. "Houshou may have all the experience of exorcising spirits, but he had never met an Omnouji."

The ponytailed monk glared at her before switching his attention back to his niece.

"Jou-chan, if you are interested, I have a book on Omnouji."

"Thank you, Bou-san. The narcissist never seems to do any work and I end up staring into space a lot of the time so I wouldn't mind having something educational to read."

This caused her "relations" to spit out their mouthfuls of coffee simultaneously.

"What do you mean, he never does any work!?" the redhead demanded disbelievingly.

"He is the head of the task force. He should be obsessively chasing clues, inputting data into spreadsheets to work out likely targets, not doing nothing," Bou-san said explosively.

Unconsciously Mai glanced around at the piles of glossy magazines littering Ayako's desk and the stack of supernatural books on top of Bou-san's. The cans in the wastepaper basket were also an indication of time spent socialising by the vending machine.

"It's not like you two do any work either," she muttered under her breath.

"Hey! We are only involved in cases involving shrines or temples and neither of us are an Inspector assigned with chasing a wanted thief, without success even after a year," the monk protested vehemently.

"I suppose so..."

"What does he spend his time doing?" Ayako probed. "And what does the Chinese beanpole spend his time doing?"

Mai considered the question thoughtfully. She could guess what they were doing right now. Lin was likely to be typing at an impossible speed whilst Naru was having caffeine withdrawal symptoms and glancing at his computer screen with a pensive look in his blue eyes.

"Naru is always on his computer, Lin-san is too, but he is always typing. The only time I ever witnessed them doing something resembling work was on my first day. They were talking about tracing explosives and I don't think either of them have actually done what they said they were going to."

Ayako gawped. "So they really don't do anything related to catching Kuro Kaitou...?"

"Nope."

A brief silence hung in the air before the monk and priestess exchanged looks. Then Bou-san handed Mai his stack of supernatural books.

"You can spend your time learning then. I still haven't forgotten the time you ruined my exorcism or when I had to get that child's spirit out of you."

Mai sighed in defeat. She might as well use her paid free time to do something productive and it would be good if she was actually useful during one of her relations' exorcism cases.

The moment she returned to the Kuro Kaitou task force office carrying the pile of books, Lin's eyes zeroed in on the one about Omnouji and Naru on the one that he had written when he was younger.

Naru corrected one of his earlier assumptions about Mai Taniyama.

She wasn't going to be just trouble, she was definitely trouble.

* * *

_The blood of the dying body leaked into the soil of the cherry blossom tree in Ueno Park and the blossoms which were in full bloom despite the time of year, soaked a slightly darker pink and the body, now dead, was engulfed by its roots._

_The killer calmly lit a cigarette which became blood splattered once his dominant hand touched it. The Sakurazukamori had killed again and this assassin had gained new abilities from the corpse who had once been a physic medium, named Masako Hara._

* * *

**Reply to anonymous review: **

. I wonder though will you use all the cast of SPR in this story? Because so far you've only mentioned Bou-san and Ayako.

**I will be using some other characters... **


	5. Inugami

**Black Phantom**

**Chapter 5:**

**2 weeks later:**

Mai gawked at the building in front of her. It was a Japanese style house that was spread over an impressive amount of land. A large garden with an ornamental pond and bridge and a collection of cherry blossom trees could also be spotted. She was about to make a comment when she noticed how tense Lin was. His eyes were staring straight ahead and his hands were curled into fists with white knuckles showing.

"Lin-san, are you worried about Naru? I'm sure he will feel better after a day's rest," she reassured him.

The beanpole glanced down at her and forced a small smile on his face.

"You are right. He can get over his food poisoning without me. Come on, Officer Taniyama," he said and led the way to the entrance of the house where they were expected.

The owner of the house was a formidable elderly woman with a poker straight posture and a malevolent glare. She served them tea and then some criticism.

"Why should I have a pack of bumbling Police officers stumble around my house to catch some thief who had not managed to steal anything?" she griped.

"Although we have not caught Kuro Kaitou yet, we have come close and we just need some more evidence," Lin explained calmly. If Mai hadn't seen what he had looked like before they went in, she would have been convinced by his unruffled demeanour.

"Hmph," the house owner grumbled. "I will permit a maximum of eight officers and the rest will be my private security service.

Lin bowed his head. "Thank you, Yoshiyaki-san."

She fixed him an dubious look. "Where is the head of the task force?"

"He is... indisposed by some food poisoning," he answered.

"Hmm..." she fixed her attention on Mai. "Taniyama-san, wasn't it. I hope you are not in love with Inspector Shibuya."

Mai flinched, but in surprise, not fright. "Of course not."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "What about the dashing Kuro Kaitou? Surely you must have encountered him at past heists. Did he seduce you into letting him go?"

Now Mai did flinch in fright which did not go unobserved by Lin.

"We have to get back to headquarters. Thank you for the tea, Yoshiyaki-san. I will see you in three days time."

"Would you like to take a look around the garden first? I cannot have officers falling into the pond at the heist so it would do you some good to see it."

As they walked through the house Mai shivered and when they walked past one door she jumped and began to shiver uncontrollably.

"Taniyama-san, is there something wrong?" Lin asked in a hushed voice so the cantankerous old woman would not hear.

"There's a curse in that room," she hissed and pointed. "It's set to activate to something, but it's not us."

"We will discuss it in the car," he decided as it obviously wasn't safe to discuss curses in the house of a member of the Sakurazukamori.

Mai nodded and tried to stop shivering so she would not draw unwanted attention to herself; she didn't want to face any more scrutiny from the owner of the house.

"Do you like the trees?" the woman asked as they stepped out into the garden. She pointed at a blooming cherry blossom tree.

Simultaneously Lin and Mai paled as both knew about the legend of the Sakurazukamori, although Lin was the one to know that it was actually true.

"How did you get it to bloom so early? Hanami isn't until next spring?" the brunette officer questioned.

"Special fertiliser," was the mysterious answer.

Blood, Lin corrected in his head. To avoid glancing at the ominous tree he looked around the opulent garden. It seemed to have everything that a garden could possibly have and all the plants were blooming out of season. His sharp eyes spotted an empty kennel.

"Do you have a dog, Yoshiyaki-san? You never mentioned that before when I asked about security."

"It died last week."

* * *

"It's an Inugami curse," Mai informed him as soon as they had driven away from the house. "It involves burying a dog's head."

"That makes sense," Lin agreed as he kept one eye on the traffic and one on her, using the mirror. "But how did you sense it? I did not feel anything."

He watched her mouth tighten into a frown and her gaze drop to her lap.

"I'm a latent physic..." she said quietly. "Watch out!"

Immediately Lin braked and switched his attention back to the road. He shouldn't have turned around and looked at her at the same time he was driving around a roundabout. Once he had pulled onto a quieter road he resumed the conversation.

"You are a latent physic?"

It certainly explained why he kept hitting the nail on the head about everything from PK to calling Noll a Japanese form of his nickname. She hadn't consciously come up with those ideas, it had been her psychic senses which was a relief in some ways, but the next thing that she came up with might prove to be their downfall.

"Yes, Bou-san and Ayako noticed that I kept hitting on the truth behind various hauntings and tested me. I'm not very reliable though, I tend to forget details."

Mentally Lin berated himself for not preparing for her arrival sooner. If they had kept her busy, tea making did not count, her mind would not be free to come up with things that came to close to the truth. He would have to have a talk with Noll.

"Do you think that the curse is set to activate to someone entering that room?" he enquired.

With no trace of her usual airheaded personality, she answered. "Yes. Kuro Kaitou is the most likely person to have a need to enter that room meaning that Yoshiyaki-san will be able to possess him or kill him."

Upon hearing her explanation Lin became slightly glad that she had joined the task force otherwise neither Naru or himself would have known the extent of the trap waiting for them.

"Is there any way to remove it?"

Mai frowned and screwed up her eyes in concentration. "I've never read an exact method of removing an Inugami. One way I have heard of is to get the person who buried the dog's head to repent, however Yoshiyaki-san..." she trailed off. "We could dig it up and get Ayako or Bou-san to bless the area. That's the only possibility I can think of."

"Are Officer Takigawa and Officer Matsuzaki free on the night of the heist?" he asked thoughtfully.

There was no way that he was going to leave the curse in place, but removing it with Yoshiyaki knowing would be challenging.

"They should be. Are you going to ask them to remove it?" she shot him a cautious glance. "Considering that you are a member of the Kuro Kaitou task force you should be glad that someone is making an effort to catch him."

"I'm a Police officer, Taniyama-san, it is not within the law to curse someone even if they are a criminal. It is also highly dangerous to be in the debt of a spirit which is another reason for not condoning it."

Fortunately for Lin she accepted his answer and did not ask him any more probing questions. Once they returned to headquarters, he made a trip to the toilets to inform Naru about the Inugami set against him.

"...so if it not removed by Friday I will be in trouble," Naru summarised once Lin had explained.

"Correct. We will have to take Officers Takigawa and Matsuzaki with us as part of the task force so they can exorcise it discreetly. Unless you can think of an alternative?"

"No. Mai is correct in this case, there is no other alternative."

The familiar use of Taniyama's first name caused Lin to recall her response to Yoshiyaki-san's questioning about her relationship with Kuro Kaitou and her witness statement from the previous heist as well as Naru's strange behaviour after the heist.

"Noll... you said that you "took care" of Taniyama-san at the most recent heist... By any chance did you make a ...romantic advance towards her?" he questioned hesitantly.

There was a taut silence on the other end of the line before his charge replied.

"It was nothing to worry about. She fainted the moment I got close to her. There is no need to tell my parents."

"If you say so, but please try to keep your contact with her to a minimum. Now that we know what she is a latent physic we cannot take any chances," he warned. "Do not fall in love with her, Noll. For most people that is where it all goes wrong."

"I won't," Naru answered after another moment of silence. "My delivery from Dad has finally arrived after getting delayed at customs so I am setting it up."

Lin accepted the change in subject. "Do not try it out until I get back."

* * *

_The woman known as Ayumi Yoshiyaki to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police held out her hand underneath the cherry blossom tree and caught a petal that was swirling in the breeze. She crushed it in her hand and let it fall._

_"A latent physic and an Omnouji, if only I could feed them to my tree. However Kuro Kaitou will be more valuable than them," she said out loud and smiled. "It will be worth killing that dog."_

_She glanced up at the night's sky which was illuminated by a crescent moon. _

_"In three days there will be no moon. How will the thief that uses moonlight as a cover cope? "_

* * *

**Inugami is a Japanese curse that requires the burial of a dog's head after burying the dog alive in the ground for a number of days.**

**Next Chapter: Naru meets Yasuhara.**


	6. Death day

**Black Phantom:**

**Chapter 6:**

The day before the heist was the day that Naru met Mai's ex boyfriend. From the beginning of the day he had known that it was not going to be a normal day.

Firstly his personal tea maker had arrived fifteen minutes for work with heavily red rimmed eyes paired with black bags underneath. He had given her a mild reprimand and sent off to make tea and she had shuffled off aimlessly.

When his tea had arrived he had found that it was devoid of milk meaning that, for an Englishman, it was completely undrinkable so he had sent her away again. The next cup had had more milk than tea. The sight of her unhappy face had made him change his mind about telling her off again.

Later that morning, acting on a warning from Lin about Mai having too much spare time, he took her visit various suppliers of explosives to track down the ones placed in the fuse box and cameras. Naturally their search yielded nothing as his supplier was located in England with no connection to Japan.

It was on their way back to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police headquarters that something happened. The narcissist pulled onto a main road to find it jammed full of cars. He squinted ahead out the windscreen and spotted blue flashing lights.

"It must be an accident," he observed and glanced behind him to find that at least five cars were queued behind his car. "We are going to have to stay here for a while."

Mai nodded and stared out the window with a distant expression on her face. The Inspector gazed at her, trying to ignore the tantalising taste of her lips. He shook his head, what was he doing? He should be worried about the Inugami, the Sakurazukamori, Gene, anything but his kiss with Mai. This brought him back to his current dilemma.

"Mai."

She turned her head round to face him. "Yes?"

"Is there-"

A knock on the window interrupted him. Naru could see a grinning spectacled man with brown hair looking in. Judging from his uniform he was a traffic warden, maybe he can get us out of this traffic jam, he mused idly.

His attention was then caught by Mai smiling back at the traffic warden and opening the car door. That was right, Mai Taniyama had been a traffic warden prior to joining the task force so presumably she knew the aforementioned traffic warden.

What he was not expecting was for the traffic warden to throw his arms around his personal tea maker and pat her on the head. Much to his relief Mai did not settle into the hug and pulled back after about a minute. She glanced back at Naru and he shot her a questioning look.

"Naru, this is Yasuhara-san. We used to be colleagues. Yasuhara, this is Inspector Shibuya, my boss."

Yasuhara bowed his head in greeting whereas Naru did not. The traffic warden then swooned dramatically.

"Ah, Mai-chan, you mortally wound me. "Just a colleague..." Even the lovely Bou-san would elevate me higher."

The brunette officer gave him a playful elbow to the ribs. "Is the traffic going to be moving anytime soon?"

His teasing face became serious. "You know how it to works, Mai-chan. There's been an accident and all we can do is block the traffic until the team comes to clear the wreckage away."

"Give me an estimate."

"Quarter of an hour. One car or what was left of it, has been cleared," he paused. "I thought of you this morning, I know what day this is..."

The narcissist raised an eyebrow. It was a very homely conversation and he felt very excluded and why was that traffic warden's arm snaking around Mai's shoulder? As the conversation was clearly going to continue for a while, he deemed that it was safe to pull out his mobile phone to text Lin.

**Who is Yasuhara in relation to Mai? He is a traffic warden**

The reply came a few seconds later.

Ex boyfriend. It would be to your advantage to pay attention to the gossip of females.

Naru blinked, that explained Yasuhara's reaction to "just a colleague" and why he knew Bou-san.

**Apparently today is an important day for Mai. Any ideas?**

As Lin seemed to excel in picking up occasionally useful titbits of gossip he decided that there was no harm in trying.

In case you have not noticed, I do not partake in petty gossip with other officers.

It is not her birthday.

Naru read the reply with a raised eyebrow before staring over at Mai and Yasuhara again who had know stopped talking animatedly and were looking awkward with Mai staring past Yasuhara distantly like she had been all day.

Definitely not her birthday, the narcissist decided. Maybe someone in her family had taken ill and she was longing to visit them. If he gave her permission she might be absent from the heist and he would not have to worry about suddenly kissing her or about her getting harmed by the Inugami or by the Sakurazukamori.

His internal monologue was interrupted by Mai sliding into the passenger seat and closing the car door.

"We shouldn't have to wait much longer for the traffic to start moving," she informed him and lapsed once more into silence.

Oliver Davis was a man who always appreciated silence than being forced to listen to idle chatter. He had spent enough time in various laboratories and offices to know what he preferred working by himself as opposed to working with a larger group of people. However he found himself wanting Mai to talk, even if it was idle chatter.

"Mai, you can talk if you want to," he said eventually.

"I'm fine with not talking, Inspector Shibuya," she answered after giving him a puzzled look.

"Are you ill? You can take a few days off if you like," Naru suggested awkwardly.

Mai let out a bark of laughter. "Taking a few days off would mean missing the heist on Friday, I never thought I would hear that from the head of the task force. I'm not ill by the way."

He turned towards her. "Mai, your tea today has been frankly awful, your eyes look terrible and you are not bouncing around and talking for Japan like you normally do- you must be ill."

She smiled softly at him. "Thank you for the concern, I'm not ill... It's just like this every year on this day."

Ironically when he returned back to the task force office he found out why from Lin. Whilst he had been out Houshou Takigawa and Ayako Matsuzaki had stopped by to see Mai and Lin had managed to get it out of them and information about Yasuhara.

"Her father died when she was seven and her mother died when she was 15. Both died on the exact same day, eight years apart," Lin informed him.

Naru was unconcerned about the conversation being overheard as Mai and been dragged off by a tearful monk and priestess.

"Was she taken in by relations?"

"She had no other relatives."

This reminded the narcissist of his own childhood spent in an orphanage before being adopted by Martin and Luella Davis. If he hadn't had Gene as a companion he knew he wouldn't have been able to cope with the loneliness.

"Did she get taken to an orphanage?" he asked quietly.

Lin shook his head understandingly. "No. She lived with one of her teachers until she was able to support herself. Takigawa and Matsuzaki came on the scene much later, during high school."

Naru stared out at the sky thoughtfully. If he had been in Mai's position, would he have been able to endure living by himself and always working to pay the bills? He gave his had an almost imperceptible shake. The heist was more important than Mai's childhood, Gene was more important than Mai. He needed to clear his head.

"Lin. I'm testing _it _again tonight. I will be going for a longer distance this time. The forecast for wind speed is quite promising."

* * *

The orphan wiped her face of the latest batch of tears and knew that she needed to get away from the shrine in her apartment which was a permanent reminder of her parents' death.

That was how she found herself on the rooftop of her apartment block. The cool night breeze cooled her hot face and she found herself calming down.

She turned at the sound of someone's shoes stepping on the edge of the rooftop behind her. Standing behind her was a figure dressed in black with a matching hat and mask and what looked like some sort of hang glider on his back. As she stared he reached into his pocket and clicked something and the hang glider turned back into his cape.

"Kuro Kaitou...?" she whispered disbelievingly and squinted to make sure as there seemed to be something different about him. The hang glider was most likely to be the factor.

She received a scowl for her troubles, reminding her of someone that she knew, as did the black clothes and hair. His demeanour seemed to be more like the narcissist than the charming Phantom Thief that she had met before and kissed...

"Mai Taniyama... what are you doing here?" he asked with a note of surprise in his voice as he hadn't been expecting to see her.

"I live here," she said pointedly. "I could ask the same of you."

A short silence passed before he spoke again with a different tone to before.

"Have you been crying?"

"Just a little. Have you been flying?" she replied, recalling the hang glider.

"Just a little," he answered with a smile.

There was a pause before he spoke again.

"Would you like to come with me?" the thief offered unexpectedly.

Mai stared at him disbelievingly. "Are you letting me into one of your secrets?"

"A small one."

"I will take you up on your offer," she answered without even stopping to consider questions that were rather vital such as, will your hang glider hold two people?

Kuro Kaitou walked over to her and she squinted to try to get a closer look at his face.

"Taniyama-san, I'm doing you a favour, as a favour to me, stop trying to work out who I am."

Mai pouted. "I am part of the task force that is supposed to capture you..."

"Stand on the edge," he instructed as if she hadn't spoken.

The Police officer climbed into the ledge and avoided looking down at the city below. She did not have a fear of heights, but she would certainly die if she fell which was fearful. She nearly lost her footing when a pair of black clad arms wrapped around her midriff.

"W-What are you doing!?" she yelped.

"How else do you think this is going to work?" he asked sounding amused at her expense. "I need to keep a good grip on you. Step off on the count of three."

Mai took a deep breath.

"Three, two, one, zero."

At zero she stepped off the building pulling the phantom thief with her and they fell through the air together as one. For a few seconds they were spiralling rapidly downwards before Kuro Kaitou activated his hang glider, temporarily freezing them in mid air until the wind pushed them forwards.

Mai let the fact that she was being held in the arms of a criminal that she was supposed to be catching, go and enjoyed the sensation of flying through the bright lights of Tokyo. There were close moments involving skyscrapers and bridges, but the euphoria of flying with the wind counteracted that as did the unexpectedly strong and secure arms holding her.

All too soon it was over and she was dropped off back onto the rooftop of her apartment block, having completely forgotten the reason why she had been there in the first place.

"Do you still feel like crying?" he asked her softly as he released her from his arms.

"Not anymore. Thank you. I might arrest you next time I see you though," she grinned.

"I would expect nothing else. Good night, Taniyama-san," he said and was about to step back onto the ledge again to launch himself off into the night when he found himself being pulled back into a hug.

* * *

"_Damn," cursed the phantom thief on his way home. _

_It was highly fortunate that he had packed one of his new smoke bombs, this one in particular containing a knockout drug. If he hadn't who knew what would have happened? He was lucky that she had only hugged him and hadn't kissed him instead._

_How was he supposed to have known that where he stopped for a rest would be where Mai lived? There was probably a name for that kind of thing. _

_The thief brought his mind back to the present, giving himself enough time to steer around another block of apartments. Tokyo was not the best city for a hang glider or for his mental health. Neither was a certain female member of the task force._

* * *

**Happy New Year!**


	7. Disguises

**Black Phantom**

**Chapter 7:**

Mai laid a caring hand onto the forehead of her superior officer's forehead, not expecting him to flinch and jerk away like she was the carrier of an infectious disease.

"What are you doing?" he barked annoyedly.

The female officer blinked in surprise.

"You're looking ill this morning so I thought that I would check your temperature. You were off sick the other day so you should be more careful with your health," she explained and stepped away from him as she seemed to be particularly sensitive.

"I'm fine, Mai. There is no need to concern yourself. In any case the heist is tonight so I have to be present," he replied. "Mai, tea and it had better taste like actual tea."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation but acquiesced to his request nevertheless. As soon as she had left the office Lin stopped typing.

"Noll, are you really planning on attending the heist tonight as Kazuya Shibuya? That woman, Yoshiyaki seems to be a high ranking member judging by the trees in her garden and is very likely to recognise your face," he reminded his charge who had been acting strangely all morning.

He had waited up all night for Noll to return as the hang glider was still an experiment and he was concerned that something would go wrong and injure him. The Inspector had finally landed back on the roof of their shared apartment at an ungodly hour in the morning, looking deep in thought and worried. Apparently nothing had gone wrong with the hang glider, it was just that he was worried about the Sakurazukamori and his brother which seemed to be understandable considering the situation he was in.

However judging by his charge's reaction to Taniyama's touch he was suspecting something else, along more romantic lines. Lin was all for Oliver Davis showing an interest in love as he had always been introverted and a little too emotionless and Mai Taniyama was a perfectly pleasant girl and reminiscent of Gene, but why did it have to happen now? The last thing they needed was for Noll to make a wrong move and end up in the clutches of the Sakurazukamori because he was distracted by his feelings for Mai Taniyama.

Or for Taniyama to deduce that the head of the task force was Kuro Kaitou.

There was a knock at the door and Lin opened it to see the ponytailed Police officer and his red headed partner who was clearly eyeing him up. Lin shuddered.

"Yoohoo! We're here to see Naru-chan," the monk said and made his way over to Inspector Shibuya's desk.

Naru gave him a cold look for the use of the nickname that Mai had given him. "Actually, I do have a request for you, Takigawa-san."

"I was going to exorcise the Inugami anyway..."

"It's not that, I need something else. Only you can do it."

10 hours later:

"So you are Inspector Shibuya...?" Yoshiyaki-san said doubtfully, scanning him up and down. "Are male Police officers allowed to have ponytails now?"

"Inspector Shibuya" fixed her a ferocious stare for the insult. He would now understand why his niece could not stand the woman.

Yoshiyaki switched her attention to Ayako. "Be careful with your hair roots and I would recommend giving up on the fake nails. With a ponytailed lout as the head of the task force it is no wonder that Kuro Kaitou has not been caught."

Bou-san shot Ayako, who was bristling with anger, a sharp look to signal that she definitely had to keep quiet, no matter the insult. He had no idea why he was impersonating Kazuya Shibuya, but the woman was certainly creepy and powerful enough to create an Inugami curse. In addition Mai had informed him that there were several blooming cherry blossom trees in the garden.

Could it be the Sakurazukamori...?

Once Yoshiyaki had retired to the garden and the rest of the task force were setting up cameras, Bou-san and Ayako entered the room that Mai had pointed out which seemed to be a file room as all the bookshelves were filled with folders and several filing cabinets were lined up against one wall.

"Can you sense it?" his girlfriend whispered.

He nodded and knelt down to get a closer look at the tatami mats on the floor.

"Inugami have to buried in earth so one of these tatami must lift up and have earth underneath," he muttered as he began prying them up one by one.

Ayako reluctantly followed his example. Preventing an Inugami curse took precedence over the condition of her fake nails.

"This Inugami shouldn't be too hard to exorcise as Inugami are normally buried in places where lots of people will walk over it, like a shrine whereas this isn't exactly public and the air in here is quite stale, indicating that this room is not regularly used," Ayako informed her partner.

"That is a good point," the monk conceded and lifted up another tatami to reveal soil instead of concrete. "I think I've found it. Did you bring the shovel?"

A trowel was dropped into his hand.

"Contrary to what you say, my handbag is not large enough to fit a shovel."

"I hope it will fit a dog's head..."

A few digs later an ear was visible and Bou-san pulled out the dog's head and waved it at his girlfriend who winced and held out a carrier bag for him to drop it into.

"This is disgusting, why do I have to carry it around in my handbag? I will have to throw this one away."

"In return for your veritable sacrifice I will exorcise this room," the monk grinned.

Whilst the exorcism was occurring Mai was setting up cameras with another Police officer who was normally her superior officer and had blue eyes and perfect vision.

"Naru, why are you wearing coloured contact lenses?" she questioned. "And the glasses? I quite like your blue eyes."

Naru blinked in surprise at the sudden compliment before his brain processed her earlier questions.

"Because I'm afraid that Yoshiyaki-san will fall in love with me due to my high rank in the Police force as well as my good looks and to be quite frank, I don't want to go anywhere near her."

Mai nodded vaguely. In reality she had no idea as to why Naru had ordered Bou-san to impersonate him and why he was masquerading as a normal officer with a change in eye colour and his hair hidden in his hat.

She certainly didn't believe his excuse. As narcissistic as he was, Kazuya Shibuya had never struck her as the type of person to let that get in the way of his Police work. There had to be something else... but she didn't know enough about him yet to guess.

"Well, now that you are just a plain Police officer and not an Inspector, you can't order me to make your tea," she smirked.

"Just wait until tomorrow," he answered easily and picked up a camera from the pile. "You can make up for the tea making time that you have lost today."

Mai face palmed, she might have gotten away with it if she hadn't been concerned with crowing over the narcissist. She vowed not to talk too much next time. From her experience she knew that criminals always gave themselves way by talking too much. Maybe she could get Kuro Kaitou talking next time she saw him...

Her memories of the two times that she had met him were vague. The first time she had forgotten to breathe and had ended up passing out and waking up in handcuffs and a blindfold. The second time, when she had given him a hug he had thrown something like a flash bomb and she had lost consciousness.

If he had felt obligated to cheer her up by taking her flying around Tokyo, then she might be able to get some hints about his true identity and vendetta.

"Mai, stop daydreaming and get moving. These cameras aren't going to set themselves up," a cold voice brought her back to reality.

"You can't order me around," Mai huffed as she stomped off with Naru following behind her.

"Naru, why do some of the cameras not work and fail to record the heist?"

As she always had little to do at the task force office she had reviewed the video footage from all the previous 13 heists and had found a common factor. All the cameras had been working perfectly until the stated time of Kuro Kaitou's heist and then some cameras fizzled out and made it impossible to work out how Kuro Kaitou entered or even see his face.

"Because they explode, but we only find this out when we clear up after a heist so there is not a lot that can be done," he answered shortly, fully aware that the camera he held in his hands contained an explosive and a timer.

"Shouldn't we start checking all the cameras before the heist then?" she suggested thoughtfully.

The narcissist flinched. "No...Lin has already checked. They may short out because Kuro Kaitou can hack into our system and overwork them so they explode," he said, retreating onto safer ground, hoping that Mai would accept it and not notice his explanation was completely false. She was getting increasingly harder to fool.

"Shouldn't we be investigating that?"

"No. Computer hacking is not our division. Place the camera that you are carrying here. Then pick up camera 030 and place it a few metres down the hallway at an angle of 130°. After that-"

"Don't overstress my brain!"

* * *

_The Phantom Thief changed into his Kuro Kaitou costume which he had been wearing under his uniform and took out all of the smoke bombs that he had been hiding in his pockets. He was not going to take any chances with the Sakurazukamori who may have killed his brother._

_He stole his way through the darkness provided by an explosive incurred blackout with some trepidation despite the expulsion on the Inugami curse which would have been his downfall. He stepped out into the garden and wove his way through the bushes using the meagre light provided by the stars in the night sky and the street lights outside the house._

_A sharp voice stopped him in his tracks and he froze in fear at their words._

_"Dr. Oliver Davis, I presume?"_

* * *

**Next chapter: an explanation of the fate of Eugene Davis**


	8. One by One

**Black Phantom**

**Chapter 8:**

He turned to see the woman known as Yoshiyaki standing in the shadow of one of her cherry blossom tress, dressed in a black kimono that allowed her to perfectly blend in the night. Despite his use of black clothes which also allowed him to hide in the shadows, he felt very exposed, like a corpse on a mortuary slab.

"What makes you think that you know who I am?" he enquired haughtily.

"Everyone suspects that you are Dr. Oliver Davies. You are the only person who would think that they would be in with a chance of bringing up down."

"Us?" he questioned, deciding it would be best to feign ignorance until he had come up with a way out.

"Don't play stupid. The Sakurazukamori. Guardian of the Cherry Blossom barrow. My tree would love to have you, I've never fed them a PK user before and I'm looking forward to using your powers."

The phantom thief fought back a shiver that was going down his spine at her words. Lin had never mentioned that the Sakurazukamori assassin would gain the powers of their victim, but it was no wonder that he hadn't known as they were a very secretive clan, for the obvious reason.

"What makes you think that I have PK?"

"Admittedly you are holding it in so I cannot detect it, but if you are Oliver Davis, of course you have PK," she said dismissively. "Now, are in Japan to track down poor Gene?"

His heart lurched at the mention of his twin brother's name.

"Don't say his name like that."

"Eugene it is then. Poor, poor Eugene, he was never the one we truly wanted..."

Naru filled in the gap easily. "You mistook him for me."

"Yes. We knew what Dr. Oliver Davis looked like from the video of a certain PK demonstration and we never knew what Eugene Davis looked like or that he was your twin. So when someone who looked exactly like Oliver Davis was spotted in Nagano by one of our members we... obtained him, thinking that he was you. We soon found out that he only had abilities as a physic medium and not PK."

This confirmed the suspicions that Naru had been entertaining all along. His brother's disappearance had been caused by the Sakurazukamori and Gene had been kidnapped by mistake. What happened after that was unknown which was why he was tracking down members of the Sakurazukamori; one by one, using Kuro Kaitou as a cover.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked and glanced around him to ensure that there were no assassins hiding in the shadows.

The woman smiled sweetly. "Because none of it was anything that you did not already know before. As for Eugene's location, I will not tell you, simply because I do not know. He was moved tonight as a precaution."

"What will the Sakurazukamori do if I kill you now?" he narrowed his eyes.

As testament to the clan that she was a member of, Yoshiyaki did not even flinch and her smile widened.

"You won't do it because you are a good person with morals," she answered. "I was like that once. Corruption is easy, the bad side have power, like this."

She clicked her fingers and Naru noticed that parts of hands were blowing away in the breeze. A closer look revealed that her hand had turned completely into cherry blossom petals and this was continuing up her arms and the rest of her body.

"Good bye, Kuro Kaitou. We will meet again. Until the next time."

With that, the last of the petals blew away and Naru was left standing by himself in the garden with only the cherry blossom trees for company.

A year ago his twin had travelled to Japan to meet various other physics and for research. After not hearing from him for three days Naru had become concerned and had begun investigating. He had used one of his brother's shirts for psychometry which had revealed that he had been lying injured under a cherry blossom tree. Then his vision had gone blank and his physic connection with Gene no longer worked.

The fact that the vision had not gone green was a sign that his brother may not have died and that it was merely being blocked by someone with significant physic powers.

He had informed his parents and requested to go to Japan to search for his twin and they had tentatively agreed on the condition that Koujo Lin, an experienced Omnouji , accompanied him.

The suggestion that the Sakurazukamori may be involved had come from Lin after they had found a cherry blossom petal in Gene's hotel room and Naru had recounted his vision in detail.

Between Naru, Lin and his parents a variety of suggestions had been put forward. Luella Davis had wanted to inform the Police which was immediately vetoed by everyone else. Martin had suggested private investigators and Lin had wanted to ask other Omnoujis for help.

The youngest member of the group had simply picked up one of the manga books that he had collected from Gene's hotel room and flipped through it, already familiar with the plot as it had always been one of Gene's favourites. The series was about a teenage boy who led a double life as a high school student and a phantom thief. The principal love interest was the daughter of the head of the task force set up to catch him which planted a certain plot in Naru's mind.

* * *

**One year ago:**

"How easy is it to become a Police Inspector in Japan and a Phantom Thief?" he asked.

"Can you repeat that please?" his father asked disbelievingly.

"I am planning on being a Phantom Thief that uses heists as a cover to investigate members of the Sakurazukamori. Of course, to make sure that no one arrests me, I need to be the head of the task force. Can that be arranged?"

His parents and Lin exchanged looks with each other.

"I'm sorry Noll, I still don't fully understand," his mother said hesitantly.

"All the plans suggested so far are almost certain to get us killed. The Sakurazukamori are likely to have some sort of influence over the Police and a private investigator would be murdered before he could get too close. Both plans can be traced back to use, meaning that death is inevitable for all of us," he explained calmly. "A Phantom Thief would be the ideal cover to hide behind and if I am the head of the task force I can gain entry to locations to case them as a Police officer without anyone becoming suspicous."

The omnouji frowned. "You may have a point and a highly convoluted plan, but you are too inexperienced to be in the Police force, let alone one in a foreign country."

Luella turned to her husband. "Isn't the Chief of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police the brother of one of BSPR's key sponsors?"

"Saguru Hakuba? You have a point and Noll is fully capable of passing the exams to be a Detective Inspector. It's a good thing that he won't need a physical exam..." Martin conceded. "Your mother and I will support this idea the best we can and the moment it gets too dangerous, pull out. We don't want to lose our other son to this clan of assassins."

"I will be careful and I will bring Gene back with me," Naru replied sincerely.

His mother patted him on the head and brightened. "We can discuss aliases. Noll can't use the name Oliver Davis for the obvious reason."

Naru looked down at his hands and knew that he didn't have to look far for inspiration. After all, Oliver Davis was not the name that he was born with.

"Kazuya Shibuya."

* * *

A shout of his criminal alter ego's name jerked him from the past and back to reality and he ran across the garden and back to the compound. Traditional Japanese houses were not the most secure as there were so many open ways in and paper screens were not secure in the first place.

He blew open the door of one room using one of his new bombs and went through the sliding paper screens to get into the next room and continued on until he reached the file room which had contained the hopefully exorcised Inugami curse. If it had not been exorcised he was in trouble, but Mai herself had pronounced the room free of curses so he was confident.

With a pulse of his PK he knocked all of the files onto the floor and began speed reading them for signs of anything related to the Sakurazukamori. If her powers were any indication, Yoshiyaki was high ranking.

He opened one brusquely and an envelope dropped out. The phantom thief opened it to find a photo of someone with the same face as him lying underneath a cherry blossom tree, dressed in a white yukata with his eyes closed.

"Gene..." he whispered. "Are you still alive?"

The sound of shouting became louder so he grabbed the notebook and left the way he came, stripping off his costume as he ran and he rejoined Lin and the others a few minutes later without anyone noticing that he had gone missing.

* * *

_The woman known as Yoshiyaki materialised outside her former home. Illusion was a useful ability that she had picked up along the way. Something buzzed in her pocket and she pulled out of mobile phone,_

_"Kuro Kaitou really is Oliver Davis and yes, he is looking for Eugene," she said as soon as she accepted the call. "I don't think he will willingly join us and become an assassin so we will have to resort to other measures."_

_The voice on the other end of the line spoke briefly and Yoshiyaki was able to answer their question._

_"I have an idea for his weak spot. We already have his brother so I can suggest another candidate. Mai Taniyama," Yoshiyaki answered._

_If her senses were right the female Police officer was the right card to use to obtain Oliver Davis as she had shown a telling reaction when questioned a few days ago about Kuro Kaitou. She had also been suspicious of Kazuya Shibuya being a cover for Oliver Davis, but the man had turned out to be a mere part time monk._

_"Be careful," she warned her conversation partner. "She is physic- she might see you coming."_

* * *

**Can anyone identify the manga series used as Naru's inspiration? It is a real one and comes from the time period that Ghost Hunt was originally written in. **


	9. Culinary

**Black Phantom**

**Chapter 9:**

_A cherry blossom petal landed on Mai's coat as she walked to the train station to get to work. She brushed it off mechanically and it was only when she rounded the corner of the street did she remember that there were not any cherry blossom trees in the vicinity of her apartment and it was still winter so none of the trees would be in bloom in any case._

_"Taniyama-san?" a voice asked._

_She glanced behind her to see that there was no one there. Mai whirled around to see a glimpse of something black run past her. As she spun around again, her paranoia that someone was watching her growing, she noticed that the previously busy street that she had been on was now deserted which was an oddity in Tokyo._

_"Hello...?" she called out hesitantly and her heart began to beat faster in fear._

_She glanced around nervously again and noted that instead of the sounds of car engines, chatter and people's shoes tapping against the pavement, there was a dead silence._

_The physic felt a shiver go down her spine as the air ripples behind her and she knew that someone or something was behind her._

_"I'm behind y-"_

The shrill ring of her alarm black jolted Mai out of her dream and she promptly forgot all about it as she carried out her usual morning routine of trying to wake herself up, shower, eat breakfast and look presentable before leaving her apartment.

"Mai, tea," Naru ordered her as soon as she walked into the office.

She divested herself of her coat and left the office whilst muttering darkly under her breath about demanding narcissists.

Naru yawned and rubbed the traces of sleep out of his eyes. He never got much sleep on heist nights on the account that he spent most of it running around and disguising himself. However he had not been able to sleep at all after his encounter with the woman known as Yoshiyaki and for fear that Gene might actually be dead.

"Have you found anything yet?" he asked Lin was also lacking sleep.

Once they had returned home he had showed Lin the notebook he had taken the night before which had turned out to be blank much to his chagrin. However the omnouji had suggested a form of invisible ink might have been employed so he was shining an ultraviolet light over it.

"Nothing so far."

"Did you read about Masako Hara this morning?" Mai enquired after returning with Naru's tea.

She pulled out a newspaper from her handbag. "She is, well was, a famous physic medium. She was on TV a lot."

Lin spotted Naru shudder and he hid a smile. Masako Hara was indeed known to his charge. They had met at a conference in England and it had been love at first sight for one of them and it certainly had not been Naru. Naru had spent most of his time avoiding her and in retaliation she had threatened to post the video of his PK demonstration all over the internet if he didn't take her on a date. A phone call to her parents had sorted the girl out and she had returned to Japan a couple of years ago and now she was dead.

"She was stabbed through the chest with a blunt paddle like object, leaving a hole...ew," Mai winced as she read aloud from the newspaper article. "The famous medium's body was found two days ago floating in Tokyo Bay and a preliminary forensic report suggests that she has been dead for several weeks before discovery. Found in her clothes were..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" Naru questioned, noticing Mai's hesitant manner and her frowning lips.

"Found in her clothes were five cherry blossom petals."

Upon hearing her words Lin stopped typing and Naru came close to spitting out his tea. It was definitely the Sakurazukamori.

"That's strange," Mai murmured as snatches of her dream came creeping back to her. "I think I dreamt about something to do with cherry blossom petals."

The narcissist ignored her, assuming that it was her usual idle chatter which he didn't have time for, then his memory recalled that she was a latent physic and presumably this manifested in her dreams.

"You're not sure?"

Mai nodded. "I never remember my dreams properly even if they mean something. When I used to go on cases with Bou-san and Ayako they would ask to recount my dream as soon as I woke up as my dreams normally contained clues about the case and I completely forgot them soon after waking up."

Interesting, Naru thought to himself. It seemed that she was not yet able to control her physic abilities properly and was essentially stumbling around in the dark. Maybe he could teach her once everything was over.

This brought him back to Mai's dream. If she was physic and dreamt about cherry blossoms it was something related to the Sakurazukamori. However Mai had never properly come into contact with the Sakurazukamori and she was wasn't known to be connected to Oliver Davis so there was no reason for the Sakurazukamori to target her or her physic abilities which were latent at best. It was just a coincidence, he decided, forgetting that there is no such thing as coincidence, there is only the inevitable. He just did not want to consider that Mai could be in danger.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully in the task force office. Lin typed up witness statements and calculated expenses. Naru researched Masako Hara's death for any signs of a connection with the Sakurazukamori whilst Mai read one of the books that Bou-san had lent her. The silence in the office was companionable and Naru reflected that Mai had become accustomed to working with them and they her. It felt strange to think of the task force before she had arrived.

The silence was occasionally broken by Naru's order of "Mai, tea" and it was completely shattered by Mai at five o'clock, asking for culinary advice.

"Naru, Lin-san, what should I cook tonight? I'm having someone over for dinner."

It took a few minutes for the unexpected question to sink in.

"Why are you asking us? Your "relations" would be more suitable to ask," the narcissist replied.

"If they knew who I had invited they would ask too many questions," Mai said. "Do you have any ideas, Lin-san?"

The Omnouji took his headphones off and paused typing. "Are they male or female?"

"Male."

This caused Naru took look her in the eye sharply. "Who is it?"

"Yasuhara. You know, the traffic warden I introduced you to the other day. We decided to catch up with each other tonight. He says he has lots of anecdotes about everything that has happened in the traffic division since I left."

So Mai was having her ex boyfriend around for dinner, Naru frowned and caught Lin's eye.

"Taniyama-san, is Yasuhara-san careful about his weight?"

Naru glanced at him, having no idea why Lin was asking. The traffic warden had not looked fat to him and it was mainly women that were interested in losing weight. Then again, Lin seemed to know something that he didn't.

Mai blinked in surprise. "How did you know- Ayako told you, didn't she?"

Lin gave her a brief nod and returned to his typing, leaving Naru completely mystified.

"Hmm, that's hot pot out then..." the brunette said to herself. "I might just go for sushi, but it is winter. I might just do some yakisoba or udon. What are you having tonight, Naru."

"Steak, I think," he answered absently, still trying to work out what Lin was not telling him.

"Is it for your low Iron levels?" Mai teased. "If you really want to stop looking so pasty I would suggest going outside in the sun."

Her superior officer shot her a derisive look and the subject was dropped.

Immediately after Mai had left the office at the end of the day Naru turned to Lin, completely forgetting that he had actually been planning to ask the Omnouji if he had found anything in the notebook.

"What was that about Yasuhara?"

Lin concealed a smile as he unplugged his laptop. Technically he should be making sure that his charge's focus was on finding Gene and the Sakurazukamori, but the opportunity to shock Oliver Davis was too much to pass up.

"I was informed by Matsuzaki-san about why they split up and resumed being friends," he answered simply.

"Why was that?"

"Whilst they were dating, Yasuhara-san realised where his true allegiances lie."

"What does that mean?"

Again Lin wondered if raising a child to be an expert in the supernatural field and have a PhD at the age of fifteen, really did mean that the child was lacking knowledge in more basic matters.

"He does not like females in a romantic way."

The look on Dr. Oliver Davis' face made the suspense worth it. He looked like a fish for a split second before his face returned to its usual blank slate.

"Apparently he had quite a thing for Takigawa-san. You never know, he may be interested in you now."

* * *

_Mai Taniyama walked out of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police headquarters absently, mentally listing items to purchase on her way home, having completely forgotten about her dream which should have warned her about what was going to happen._

_When she reached the street where her dream took place it did not spark any feeling of strange familiarity, or more appropriately, danger. A step off the curb as she crossed the road changed that._

_She was sent spiralling straight into the events of her dream, this time with a nasty conclusion that she could not escape by simply waking up._

* * *

**The manga series referenced in the previous chapter was indeed Magic Kaitou by Gosho Aoyama, which in itself in based on Arsene Lupin. Well done to everyone who got it right. **

**I have also made Yasuhara gay for convenience. **


End file.
